Saturday, January 2, 2016

The props in the Tower of Terror are amazing! I’ve heard that the Mission Inn in Riverside, California, and the Biltmore in Los Angeles provided some of the inspiration for the design. Are there any other buildings that inspired this beautiful attraction?

The Imagineers looked at photographs of many elaborate buildings from the right era for their design ideas and then scoured Hollywood auction houses for the actual props. Some came from lavish estates of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. One set of chairs was 400 years old; other chairs came from the exclusive Jonathan Club, a well-known Los Angeles landmark built in the 1920s.

1964: Walt Disney originally wanted to make a roller coaster for Disneyland called Space Port. It would've featured four separate tracks. But due to the limited space and the death of Walt Disney, it was shelved.

1973: The Imagineers return to the idea of Space Port and it later became Space Mountain for the new Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

Late 1975: After the success of the first Space Mountain, construction begins on the ride for Disneyland.

May 27, 1977: Space Mountain officially opens at Disneyland along with a space stage, a space restaurant, and the Starcade.

April 15, 1983: Space Mountain officially opens at Tokyo Disneyland, and is the first version to open when the park did.

1989: New trains are introduced in the Magic Kingdom.

June 1, 1995: Space Mountain officially opens at Disneyland Paris. It is significantly different from the other versions as it is the only one to feature a launch and inversions.

April 10, 2003: Disney announces that Space Mountain at Disneyland would close for a 2-year refurbishment which includes new trains, a new track replacement, and a new soundtrack by film composer, Michael Giacchino. It was expected to open by Disneyland's 50th Anniversary.

September 2004: Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris closes to be changed to Space Mountain: Mission 2.

2005: Space Mountain: Mission 2 reopens at Disneyland Paris.

July 15, 2005: Space Mountain reopens at Disneyland.

September 12, 2005: Space Mountain officially opens at Hong Kong Disneyland along with the park.

Late 2006: Space Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland closes for refurbishment.

January 11, 2015: Space Mountain: Mission 2 closes for a major refurbishment. It is expected to reopen on July 24, 2015 with the name being changed to "Space Mountain". The ride is also rumored to receive new trains as part of the 2nd phase of the refurbishment in 2018.

January 15, 2015: Space Mountain celebrates its 40th anniversary at the Magic Kingdom.

July 24, 2015: Space Mountain reopens at Disneyland Paris after a few days of soft opening. The refurbishment included a huge technical overhaul to have everything ready for the next refurbishment. The name hasn't changed and still no new trains.

August 2015: At the D23 Expo, Hyperspace Mountain is announced as part of the Season of the Force celebration at Disneyland. The overlay will put riders into the Star Wars universe in X-Wing battles

November 16, 2015: Hyperspace Mountain, the overlay at Disneyland based on Star Wars, opens apart of the Season of the Force celebration.